BETTER FOR IT

Skiing is not important. What is important is living hard, connecting with nature, avoiding routine, and being kind. Skiing happens to be a great way, maybe the best way, to do that.

When I was a kid, I thought skiing was the only important thing. My friend gave me my first subscription magazine, too, and performed the ridiculous fitness tips in the back pages in my bedroom at night: Make a grid out of masking tape and hop from square to square; do wall sits in the hallway with schoolbooks in your lap. I watched Greg Stump’s movies like some people watch reenactments of the Bible. I knew every second, every transition, every storyline and lyric by heart. When I was a senior in high school, I made a Stump-inspired ski movie with a camcorder. It featured my friend on a snowboard and me on skis. It was the 1980s. It was called “Board vs. Boards.”